10 Sexist Commercials And Why We’re #NotBuyingIt

Unfortunately, sexism is still a big issue in our world and one example of that is some of the horribly sexist commercials that are all too common our TV. Why are there so many incredibly sexist ads out there? Probably because sex sells… but honestly, it still sucks to see so many stereotypes about women being played out so badly.

That’s exactly why the organization and advocacy group Miss Representation is trying to get funding for the app#NotBuyingIt. The app would attempt to put a stop to sexist commercials and ads that objectify and belittle women. It will allow users to post and discuss the sexist ads they find in hopes that the big companies creating them will take notice.

Need some proof of sexism in advertising? We’ve got it. Here are 10 sexist commercials that will make you shake your head in disbelief. Honestly, who thought any of these were a good idea?

Allstate

Of course the car is pink. And of course a teen girl would be depicted as a maniac who can’t drive and who only cares about one thing: her crush.

Axe

According to this commercial, all women are powerless to the scent of Axe. We can’t think about anything else when a boy uses it! And of course the women in this commercial are running in bikinis. What else would we wear?

Go Daddy

Basically all of Go Daddy’s commercials are incredibly sexist and despite all of the backlash they’ve received, they just keep going. This commercial, which aired during the 2013 Superbowl, shows what that they think women = sex. Women don’t have brains! Nerdy dudes are smart, not beautiful women. All women are good for is to sell sex. I mean, obviously.

Carl’s Jr

Carl’s Jr is another company that gets a lot of backlash for their commercials. Their ads are all about women acting like they’re having sex while they’re eating a burger. Sexy.

Dr. Pepper 10

This ad assumes that the stereotype that women don’t like action films is true (so false – I LOVE action movies and I’m a woman). It also talks about lady drinks and how Dr. Pepper 10 isn’t for women, because we just can’t handle it. These are manly calories, guys. Manly. Plus, it somehow makes guys feel like “lady” drinks are not good enough for them.

Fiat

Your boobs aren’t good enough. Do your man a favor: get a boob job.

Dodge Chryslar

God, women are so naggy. We really know how to be annoying and nag. We really know how to ruin our man’s life.

Teleflora

As Adriana Lima says, Valentine’s Day isn’t that complicated. And neither, apparently, are women. Give us pretty presents and we’ll give you what you want… if you catch my drift.

2 Broke Girls

I guess the only way to sell the show was to show off the bodies of the stars?

Mercedes-Benz

Is this a commercial or a dumb blonde joke? Or is it just calling all women stupid? Oh well, at least she drives a Mercedes, right?

Which of these commercials do you think was the most sexist? Did you find any of them not to be sexist at all? Were you offended by these? Tell us in the comments.

I do believe a lot of these are objectifying women but you have to think about this. While some men do tend to be at fault for wanting to make these commercials, the women in them obviously don’t mind objectifying themselves (since it’s not like they were kidnapped and forced to do them or anything). Now the ones without women in them (Like Dr. Pepper) I fully understand is somewhat sexist. And also, men like women in this sort of way, like we like men in this sort of way as well. We would be the ones making commercials with buff shirtless men and doing sexy things because that’s what we as women like.

My overall point: A lot of these may objectify women (with maybe the exception of a few, those are genuinely a joke), but we are also at fault for choosing to be in such commercials. And if we were to make a commercial with men, wouldn’t we do the same?

MeMakeYouSmile

Just like all the comments above me, the article author is being oversensitive. Most of these are just funny, not really offensive. The All State ones happens to be one of my favorite commercials and It’s not at all the wrong way to portray young teenage girls, because most of them like pink, and like to gossip, as the guy was in the commercial. Calm yo titties, It’s all a joke!

Amy

I agree with Ashley, most of these I didn’t find offensive they were just funny! There’s feminism and then there’s the people that take it too far.

Daniel

I agree completely with Ashley. Whoever wrote this must be some extremely uptight person who has absolutely no sense of humor. You should really feel embarrassed about posting this, because it’s making you look bad.

Sam

Couldn’t agree more with Ashley. People need to know when to take a joke. Sure, some of it may be stereotyping, but you’re seeing the wrong side of it (The first advert was hardly about making fun of women, and more about poking a bit of fun at young people. Sure, it happened to be a girl, but as long as we focus on that then we’re letting sexism win, aren’t we?). Others were simply examples of targetting, knowing your audience. Apparently, Chrysler knows they sell penile enhancements you can drive, so they kind of assume it’ll help to appeal to men. If all of this stuff actually offends you…maybe it’s time to stop watching TV in general.

ursulamb

omg i hate these people. For my health class I did a project about this but I didn’t see half these ads…. people are CRAZY.

Emma

You act all gung-ho feminist but then at the side of your page there’s a link to an article in which it says: “As a wise man once said ‘bitches be crazy’. Yeah, we are crazy, we own that, but that’s just how it is.”
Yeah….. Theses commercials are waaayyy worse than the websites you affiliate yourselves with.

Truth

They are only adverts but there is occasionally that stupid guy who thinks that the adverts is real and that they can treat you how they treat us in the video. Personally I don’t like to feel like I’m not equal to guys it really ****** me off and so do these adverts

LittleRedWolfGirl

I left out something very critical in my above comment. More intelligent people may know the commercials are trying to be funny, or just make jokes, but the problem lies in the less educated, in those who do have a misogynistic view on things. These kinds of commercials just plant the suggestion deeper into their minds, and it perpetuates the stereotypes and ideas that this is the way women are.

Ashley how is ogling shirtless men even on the same level as these commercials. Unequal comparison. The issue isn’t that men are physically attracted to women, it’s the stereotypes and utter reductionism of women as people. Running in bikinis and competing with each other for hairspray? Orgasming in a lesbian-esque way over burgers (especially when the models in question probably couldn’t even fit those burgers into their diets)? And the 2 Broke Girls one… no comment. I agree not all of them were bad; i actually found the All-State commercial funny since I felt it represented a certain kind of teen girl whose driving can be seen as mayhem rather than making a blanket statement about female drivers and the Dr. Pepper one while annoying can be clearly seen as a desperate attempt to get male consumers rather than an insidious way of dictating gender roles to the public through mass media.

I agree, I really don’t think these commercials are a big deal. They’re not supposed to be taken seriously, in fact I find the Allstate and the Mercedes commercials both funny. I think people are getting too sensitive about what sexism is. Lighten up!

violet7789

I’m really glad to see this, not the commercials themselves, but gurl showing and explaining sexism. Even in some of my college classes students wouldn’t see these commercials and realize anything was wrong with them or they would say they tune out such commercials, yet know women flock to guys in axe commercials. Hail to the V commercials also depict racial stereotypes among women by catering certain commercials to white, hispanic, and black women based on how they’re expected to behave. For instance, the hispanic one talks about the woman traveling, packing light, and rarely able to shower as if she’s crossing the border illegally.

Honestly it’s annoying what this website is deeming ‘sexist’ now. Please, chill out and take a joke and not complain about it.

It’s people like you who create these type of stereotypes.

Jillian

The Allstate commercial with the teenage girl is funny. Why would you think it’s sexist? And Ashley is right. We all like to stare at shirtless men…Magic Mike anyone?

Nicole

So I may receive some backlash for this, but here it goes:

I used to love this site when I was younger. I was able to find out about things I was too afraid to ask about or was just curious of. It was interesting to see the different opinions of different girls from around the world and know that I am normal. However, now this site has gotten a bit ridiculous with its feminism. As Ashley said, 90% of these are a joke. Lemme break it down –

Allstate: Joke about distracted drivers. If the guy was portraying some guy listening to music, it wouldn’t be near as funny or attention-grabbing.

Axe: A man’s product (mostly). Men like scantily clad women so they will show what sells. If it were a women’s product with the same marketing idea, there would be scantily clad men.

Go Daddy: You can have your win with this one.

Carl’s Jr. – Attempting to market a “Men want them, women want to be like them”. DO I understand sex=food? No, but it’s a formula, it works.

Dr. Pepper: There is kind of a stigma that low/no calorie sodas are for women and that “real men drink fell-calorie soda”. That’s why the action movie is there, it’s a joke aimed at the stigma.

Fiat: Men like boobs. It’s kind of a hardwired DNA thing, not a sexist thing. Again, just a joke.

Dodge: You can’t tell me you don’t nag your S/O to do things like that. If you don’t, you’re lying. Maybe you’re not as extreme, but let’s be honest now.

Teleflora: Truth. Next?

2 Broke Girls: Like Carl’s Jr. “Men want to have, women want to be”. Even the characters make fun of it in the commercial.

Mercedes: Even the tagline “Beauty is nothing without brains” They say it themselves! It’s a JOKE. If you make people laugh you will sell a product, it’s that simple. They will remember it.

Regardless, that’s my rant (fueled by lack of sleep because of a paper I had to write). The feminism of this site is just getting to be too much. AND if this is sexist, how is the image for the “6 Things that Will Not Make you Smell Good Down There” of the lower half of a naked woman that is sitting right below this text box of mine not?

flora

Nicole, your comment makes me sad. Surely you see that adverts like these just further emphasise the stereotypes and stigmas already in place. The teleflora ad is not the truth, nor is the idea that a woman’s only value to men and society is their looks and their sexuality. The fact that these are intended as a joke is almost the worst part of these adverts. I didn’t realise the objectification of women and the implication that their value lies solely on aesthetics was such a hilarious topic. Just because it’s supposed to be a joke, doesn’t mean it’s not sexist.

Ashley

You’re overreacting to 90% of these! They’re jokes, lighten up. We all like to ogle at shirtless men, and they don’t complain about ‘sexism’. Gosh.

Megg

I agree with Ashley, you are definintly overreacting to these ads.

In all honesty, there is no excuse to prohibit freedom of speech or freedom of expression.

Adriana

I’LL FIGHT FOR THIS MAN. AMEN TO THAT.

Charlotte

I agree!

LittleRedWolfGirl

See, that’s part of the problem. SO many people just try to slap a “it’s just a joke!” on sexist things, and then they don’t get upset when we don’t laugh. Just because it’s a “joke” doesn’t mean it isn’t sexist. I’m certainly not laughing, and I have a great sense of humor.